WYW v Shelbourne (Cup Final)

Wexford Youths Women lifted their fourth WFAI Cup in good style in Tallaght this evening as they deservedly saw off Shelbourne with Wexford putting in an impressive second half performance in particular. Wexford started with Kiev, Nicola, Della, Lauren, Lolly, Lynn Marie, Aoibheann, Ellen, Ciara, Edel and with Kylie up front. First half was very cagey and the two goals in that half both more or less came out of the blue. On five minutes. Kylie Murphy for Wexford had a good shot on target saved by Amanda Budden in the Shels goal but Kylie was immediately blown up for an earlier handball. Both sides appeared to be looking for the other to make a mistake at this stage and, midway through the half, Ellen Molloy for Wexford had a shot which was an easy pick-up for Budden and Saoirse Noonan, forced Kiev Gray into her first real save of the day between the posts for Wexford. Just after the half-hour, Pearl Slattery got a yellow for clattering into Molloy. From the resulting free-kick, the ball broke to Wexford’s Lynn Marie Grant who put a looping shot into the top-right corner and it was 1-0 to Wexford. Wexford then appeared to sit back and Shels forced the equaliser when Jess Ziu ran into space outside the Wexford area to smack a shot against Wexford’s post. Ciara Grant of Shels reacted well to steer home the rebound and it was 1-1. Ciara Rossiter of Wexford then had a half-chance to restore Wexford’s lead but lost the ball inside the Shels area when trying to steer it on to her favourite left foot. 1-1 at half-time.

With credit to Wexford manager, Stephen Quinn, Wexford became more attack-minded at the start of the second half which undoubtedly suited the Wexford side. It led to a great move by Wexford early in the second period which ended up with their skipper, Kylie Murphy, steering home the final pass in a fine Wexford spell with Ellen Molloy very prominent. 2-1 to Wexford. Wexford looked comfortable for a good period, until Saoirse Noonan broke clear and faced only Kiev Gray in the Wexford goal, but Lolly Conlon brought off an amazing tackle to deny the Shels striker a shot on goal. Unfortunately, Lolly, who was having a fine game, got injured in the process and was replaced by Lynn Craven who also played exceedingly well. Saoirse Noonan, who was impressing for Shels then had a volley a yard or two over the Wexford bar. With twenty minutes to go, Teegan Lynch replaced Lynn Marie Grant for Wexford who was also forced to hobble off. Edel Kennedy then made the game safe for Wexford when a good run and shot from an angle gave the injured Amanda Budden in the Shels goal no chance for 3-1. Ciara Rossiter then had a chip just over the Shels bar and Ellen Molloy also got injured for Wexford very late on when trying to secure Wexford’s fourth goal and was replaced by Sinead Taylor. A Shels shot on goal which went narrowly wide finished the game with Wexford deserved winners by three goals to one.

Very good performances all over the pitch by Wexford and it was difficult to pick player of the match but I would probably have given it to Kylie Murphy. Shels will undoubtedly feel that they can play better but had decent performances from Saoirse Noonan, Jess Ziu, Pearl Slattery and Jess Gargan. Just over 3,000 at the game. On the way home, heard about the controversy regarding the appearance of Teegan Lynch as a substitute for Wexford – there was a team sheet in circulation in Tallaght which omitted her name but curiously it wasn’t signed so it may have been prepared for media use only.